Counter: Lots of pasta and, finally, the Hearth & Hound
Happy December, which means anther big football weekend, a sudden explosion of holiday decorations — and some serious cookie baking. (Remember that the results of our Cookie Bake-off are coming soon.) This week, Jonathan Gold continues his account of L.A.’s current pasta scene with a review of Uovo — say that a few times fast. The pasta at the casual Santa Monica restaurant isn’t made there, but in Bologna, Italy, though he’s pretty happy about their plates just the same, the tonnarelli all’Amatriciana in particular.
I get news from April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman, the folks who brought New York the Spotted Pig, and who you may remember are opening their first restaurant here. It’s been a long time since we first started hearing about that, so the report that it’s finally opening is probably as welcome for them as it is for us.
It’s also, of course, a great time to head to the farmers markets (broccoli), to make comfort food (we have lots of recipes for coffeecake, meatloaf, even stew). We also get a SOS cookie recipe from a Berkeley cafe and an update on Eataly — another highly anticipated opening — whose cooking school is up and running.
PASTA PRONTO
Jonathan finds himself a little distressed to admit that the best Amatriciana at the moment is at Uovo, the subject of this week’s review. It’s a pasta counter near the Santa Monica Promenade serving excellent tonnarelli, tortellini and ravioli — lots of pasta — and wine.
FINALLY HERE
The Hearth & Hound partners chef April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman.
The food-minded folks of Los Angeles have been waiting for what seems like forever for chef April Bloomfield and partner Ken Friedman to open the Hearth & Hound in Hollywood. The Sunset Boulevard restaurant is scheduled to open Friday. I sat down with Bloomfield and Friedman to talk food, wine and whether you’ll be eating one of the chef’s famous burgers.
MADE FOR INSTAGRAM
Like to Instagram your food? Then you’ll probably want to head to Corporation Food Hall in downtown Los Angeles, which opened this September. Deputy Food Editor Jenn Harris has the scoop on four reasons to visit, including deep fried avocado tacos, fries topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and more food that looks like it was created for social media.
SCHOOL IS IN SESSION
If you want to learn how to make your favorite Italian food, the cooking school at the new Eataly in Century City is now open. Jenn has all the details, plus more restaurant news including an Israeli street food pop-up in Santa Monica and a Koreatown cockail pop-up from the Nomad crew.
MARKET REPORT
In her weekly market report, Noelle considers broccoli, typically in season from late fall through winter. Noelle has plenty of suggestions for how to use multiple variations of broccoli, including broccolini and broccoli rabe. She shares recipes for how to make broccoli soup, salad, pasta and more.
Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers and now features his 2017 Best Restaurants. If you didn’t get a copy of the booklet, you can order one online here.
Goldbot: you can now talk to Jonathan Gold any time you want — or at least the robot version of him that now lives on Facebook Messenger. You can ask Goldbot for a personal restaurant recommendation based on location, type of food or price. The bot will also deliver Jonathan Gold’s latest reviews straight to your device.
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